News – Next week we’ll be into October. My how time flies when you’re having fun. Today we’re going to continue talking about the sales funnel. The interview is an important technique with offline tutoring, online you’ll prequalify the candidate, and the decision will be on them to go with you or not.
Sales Funnels – The Interview
Traffic à Website à (???) à Interview à New Student
Email ->
Phone->
The prospect has called you on the telephone, you’ve explained to them what you’re offering and you have asked enough questions so you know they’ll be a good candidate or not.
Here is a sheet straight from our Tutor guide – what to talk about when you’re on the phone. This gives you a general idea of how the phone conversation may go.
You can find our tutor guide here – http://www.cleverapple.com/howtostartatutoringservice.html
From page 20
Example Phone Interview
The phone is ringing! On the other end is someone who has seen your ad, and is calling about tutoring! Hopefully, by the end of the conversation, you will have set up a consultation with the parent and student!! Be sure to write the date and time in your phone log notebook, and take notes and get information, such as names, phone numbers, age, grade, and tutoring concerns for use in your consultation!
Hello. Yes, I’m calling about the ad for tutoring.
GREAT! MY NAME’S JUDY JONES, AND I’M TUTORING STUDENTS AFTER SCHOOL AND IN THE EVENINGS. IS THIS FOR YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER?
It’s for my son. He’s having trouble with reading, and I can’t get him to finish his homework, and it’s really driving me crazy!! It just seems like this year he’s let down and doesn’t try like he used to. I just don’t know what to do, so I thought maybe tutoring would help. Maybe he would listen to someone else — he doesn’t want to hear anything I have to say!
SOMETIMES IT TAKES SOMEONE OUTSIDE THE FAMILY TO GET THROUGH TO THEM. HOW OLD IS YOUR SON?
He’s 11, almost 12. He’s in sixth grade this year.
OH, BOY, SIXTH GRADE. THE HOMEWORK GETS TOUGHER THEN, AND THE KIDS START WORRYING ABOUT WHAT THEIR FRIENDS THINK MORE THAN WHAT THE TEACHER OR PARENTS THINK! IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR SON COULD USE SOME HELP GETTING MOTIVATED AND ORGANIZED, ALONG WITH SOME HOMEWORK
HELP AND SOME READING SKILLS HELP. I’D BE GLAD TO MEET WITH YOU AND YOUR SON TO GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT I DO
—
THE CONSULTATION IS FREE AND THERE’S NO OBLIGATION TO SIGN UP WITH ME.
O.K. Could I ask what you charge and how often you tutor?
YES. THE STUDENTS COME TWICE A WEEK, EITHER MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY OR TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, FOR ONE HOUR EACH DAY. SO I SEE THEM A
TOTAL OF TWO HOURS A WEEK, PLUS I SPEND TIME PLANNING EACH SESSION,
GOING TO THE TEACHER’S STORE AND THE LIBRARY, AND GOING TO THE PHOTOCOPY SHOP IF I NEED TO COPY ANYTHING. I TRY TO INDIVIDUALIZE SESSIONS ACCORDING TO EACH STUDENT’S NEEDS, SO IT DEPENDS ON THE STUDENT AS TO WHAT BOOKS OR SUPPLIES I NEED TO BUY. BUT EVERYTHING IS INCLUDED IN A WEEKLY FEE OF $40.00, WHICH IS ABOUT HALF THE PRICE OF SOME OF THE LEARNING CENTERS, AND YOU GET ONE-ON-ONE INSTRUCTION WITH ME, INSTEAD OF GROUPS OF THREE.
O.K. That sounds pretty good. And what are your qualifications? Are you a teacher?
NO, I’M NOT A TEACHER, BUT I’VE WORKED AS AN ADMINITRATIVE ASSISTANT, AND HAVE GOOD LANGUAGE AND ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS, AND I HAVE TWO NIECES THAT I’VE HELPED THROUGH SCHOOL WITH HOMEWORK. I ALSO PURCHASED A HOME TUTORING PROGRAM THAT I USE AS A GUIDE TO PLANNING
STUDENT SESSIONS AND ACTIVITIES. AND I JUST LIKE WORKING WITH KIDS AND HAVE ALOT OF PATIENCE, SO TUTORING IS GREAT FOR ME! I HAVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MYSELF AND MY PROGRAM THAT I CAN GIVE YOU, IF YOU’D LIKE TO MEET ME AND SEE WHAT I DO.
All right, I think that would be a good idea.
GREAT! LET ME GET YOUR NAME AND YOUR SON’S NAME, THEN WE CAN SET UP A TIME TO MEET.
O.K. My name is Barbara Peterson and my son’s name is Jason. Should we come to your house,
or do you come here?
I TUTOR AT MY HOUSE, SO IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU COULD COME HERE. IS SATURDAY MORNING GOOD FOR YOU?
Yes, I think that would work.
HOW ABOUT 10:00 A.M.?
Yes, that would be good for us.
GREAT! LET ME GET YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO MY HOUSE. …O.K., THEN. I’LL SEE YOU AND JASON AT 10:00 A.M. ON SATURDAY. O.K. THANKS ALOT.
**(Remember to call on Friday to confirm the appointment!)
Again that’s just an example – the goal of course is to get them to come to your house and close the sale and get a new tutor student.
If you’re tutoring online, you’ll want to make sure that you answer any questions they may have, if you want you can also give a phone number for them to call you.
Questions you should make sure that you answer on your site:
What are your qualifications?
What do you tutor?
How / When do you tutor.
Put testimonials from past customers.
How much do you charge?
How do they get started.
You will find as you tutor that you get the same questions over and over again. You’ll want to make sure to put those down in the FAQ.
Next issue will be Oct. 11th. we’ll be talking about what to do with the new student you have.
Useful URLs – More information about our new program that includes a website, social media and more. http://www.cleverapple.com/onlinetutoringguide2.html Remember the price goes up in October.
Follow us / more information.
You can find much more information on our blog. Just use the search box and type something in, you may be surprised at what you find.
http://www.cleverapple.com/blog/
or find us on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clever-Apple-Tutoring-Business-Help/186004714761452?ref=hl